1877-1899 : Delfshaven, Rotterdam
Born on 26th January 1877, in Delfshaven, a suburb of Rotterdam in mid polder, Kees Van Dongen studied at l'Académie des Arts et des Sciences de Rotterdam for four years. Three paintings evoke his youth and his beginnings as a painter in The Netherlands, including the impressive Autoportrait of 1895, kept in the Musée national d'art moderne in Paris.

1899-1914: Montmartre - Montparnasse
In 1899, he moved to Paris where he joined his partner, Augusta Preitinger, or Guus. Her sensitive nature subsequently brought him closer to radical milieus. He met the writer Félix Fénéon with whom he formed a deep and lasting friendship. For a while, he abandoned painting to devote himself to the illustration of political and social publications. His favourite subject was the environment of prostitutes and courtesans, a central theme that he was to develop further (Les entraîneuses, circa 1905; Nini la parisienne, between 1906 and 1910; Les péripatéticiennes, circa 1920).

As a resident of Montmartre (La parisienne de Montmartre, 1903 or 1911), he was well acquainted with the mythical areas of the district (Le Moulin de ...